Edwardsville-area candidates speak at League of Women Voters forum

Illinois 56th District Senate candidates Rachelle Aud Crowe, left, and Hal Patton prepare to speak at Wednesday’s Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters forum at the Wildey Theatre.

Illinois 56th District Senate candidates Rachelle Aud Crowe, left, and Hal Patton prepare to speak at Wednesday’s Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters forum at the Wildey Theatre.

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Bill Tucker/Intelligencer

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Bill Tucker/Intelligencer

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Illinois 56th District Senate candidates Rachelle Aud Crowe, left, and Hal Patton prepare to speak at Wednesday’s Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters forum at the Wildey Theatre.

Illinois 56th District Senate candidates Rachelle Aud Crowe, left, and Hal Patton prepare to speak at Wednesday’s Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters forum at the Wildey Theatre.

Photo:

Bill Tucker/Intelligencer

Edwardsville-area candidates speak at League of Women Voters forum

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EDWARDSVILLE – The state’s mounting debt and equitable funding for education were among the topics discussed Wednesday by four candidates taking part in the Edwardsville Area League of Women Voters first candidate forum, conducted at the Wildey Theatre.

112th District Illinois House of Representative candidates Katie Stuart and Dwight Kay and 56th District Illinois Senate candidates Rachelle And Crowe and Dr. Hal Patton all responded to audience-submitted questions at the event.

Three candidates for other offices also attended the forum, but only introduced themselves and briefly described their backgrounds.

Democrat Debra Ming-Mendoza is the incumbent Madison County Clerk and she spoke to the Wildey audience. She is opposed by Republican candidate Stephen Adler, who was not in attendance.

Andrew Reinking is a Democrat who is the incumbent Regional Superintendent of Schools and is being challenged for that office by Republican Robert Werden. Both candidates spoke Wednesday night.

The LWV has scheduled a second forum, again at the Wildey, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17.

That event will feature candidates for Madison County Treasurer, Madison County Board (Districts 5 and 11) Circuit Judge and Appellate Court Judge.

Two years ago, Stuart defeated Kay, who was the incumbent, in the 112th District election, meaning both candidates have experience in Springfield.

Stuart, from Edwardsville, is a former high school and college math teacher. She is a Democrat.

In her introduction, Stuart said state lawmakers need to be less receptive to the “perks” of office and more in tune with constituents.

“Two years ago, I went to Springfield during an unprecedented budget crisis and I made a promise that I would not accept a paycheck until we passed a budget. I held to that promise and I worked to pass a responsible budget that projects funding for our state’s most critical services,” Stuart said. “I think we need to do more to reduce perks for politicians so I rejected the legislative pension and health care benefits and I passed legislation that blocked an increase in pay for lawmakers.”

Kay, a Republican, is a businessman from Glen Carbon.

He emphasized in his introduction that he is a conservative who is tired of the way things are being done in Springfield.

“I’m not going to say a whole lot about myself because you know me, I’ve been to Springfield in the past. I’m a fiscal conservative,” Kay said. “We don’t need to convene the house, we don’t need to convene the senate because (Illinois Speaker of the House, Democrat) Mike Madigan has taken over the state and made it somewhat less than it should be. We are not where we should be, could be or need to be.”

Both candidates agree that more needs to be done at the state level in regard to education funding, particularly since approximately 80 percent of Edwardsville District 7’s funding comes from local tax sources.

Stuart has seen first-hand the impact inadequate funding can have on education.

“I was a teacher in the classroom, I’ve been in front of those students. I know how much those dollars affect what goes on in that classroom,” she said.

Kay, meanwhile, said Springfield needs to live up the state constitutional mandate calling for at least 50 percent of education funding to come from state sources.

“Education is the most important thing that we can do for our young people,” he said. “The fact that we have not met the 50 percent budget requirement is pretty sad.”

In terms of the state budget, both candidates agreed that more needs to be done.

“This is the 21st year we’ve had an unbalanced budget in Illinois and that’s not acceptable to me and it shouldn’t be acceptable to you,” Kay said, pointing out the long-history of state budget issues.

“Our two-year budget crisis … almost tripled our state debt, created a billion dollars worth of interest payments on unpaid bills. We absolutely cannot afford to let that happen again,” Stuart said, opting to take a more recent look at the problem.

The 112th District includes all or parts of Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Roxana, Caseyville and Collinsville.

State Senator Bill Haine is the incumbent in the state’s 56th District, but is stepping down for health reasons.

Crowe and Patton stepped up to place their names on the ballot.

Crowe. a Democrat, is from Glen Carbon and serves as a prosecutor for Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Patton is running as Downstate United candidate after being knocked off the Republican primary ballot earlier this year. He is a dentist and the mayor of Edwardsville.

Both candidates have different ideas on fixing the state’s numerous problems, sticking to their party lines.

“We can do things through growth but we have to be business friendly. We have to figure out a way to attract them here, into the state of Illinois. Part of it is unemployment insurance and work comp rates. We are not competitive at all,” Patton said. “We need a state that doesn’t over-regulate and gets out of our way.”

Crowe went in another direction.

“We need to make sure that our state has the right priorities. We need to close corporate tax loopholes that cost our taxpayers millions of dollars and give us no return,” she said. “Instead, we need to be making sure that we are spending money that is going to have a lasting impact on our communities.”

The idea of a graduated income tax has been considered and would need voter approval before it becomes a reality.

Neither Crown nor Patton supports the idea per se nor do they believe taxes should be levied on retirement income.

“We cannot be taxing the working class any more than we already are. We can’t be taking money out of the pockets of the hard-working people,” Crowe said. “Now, when we’re talking about someone who has millions of dollars and they can afford to pay for it, I think they should.”

Patton said the public is taxed enough.

“I certainly do not support a progressive income tax. That would be an absolute disaster for our state. That’s another increase,” he said. “How many times do we have to increase income taxes before we figure out that a lot of people are going to leave.”

The state currently faces a $130 billion public pension shortfall and both candidates addressed that.

Crowe and Patton agree that the shortfall is not the fault of public school teachers, who account for the bulk of pension payouts.

“The best idea I’ve seen for that is re-enterprising, meaning refinancing what is owed without adding to that debt, upholding our end of the bargain and keeping our promises to our teachers,” Crowe said.

Patton agreed that something needs to be done.

“We have to come up with solutions … we’re going to have to continue to grow. We need to reform the system. We need to ask people for early buyouts,” he said. “We need to figure out ways to tackle this so we can do it in smart and economical ways.”

The 56th District covers parts of Madison and St. Clair counties and includes Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Bethalto, Alton, Godfrey, Collinsville and other communities.